(28-04-2014 02:41 PM)John Wrote: And btw, is there anything defensible about scientology?!

Hey now! Scientology meets all the qualifications of a legitimate religion and deserves all the respect owed to more venerable religions such as Christianity. It has met all the same standards of evidence, demonstrated the same universal standards of commitment amongst its hierarchy to not exploit or abuse its membership, and its history of how it treats those who publicly question its dogma is actually superior to Christianity's record.

(28-04-2014 02:41 PM)John Wrote: And btw, is there anything defensible about scientology?!

Hey now! Scientology meets all the qualifications of a legitimate religion and deserves all the respect owed to more venerable religions such as Christianity. It has met all the same standards of evidence, demonstrated the same universal standards of commitment amongst its hierarchy to not exploit or abuse its membership, and its history of how it treats those who publicly question its dogma is actually superior to Christianity's record.

this chart always made me laugh at the Scientology option

Theism is to believe what other people claim, Atheism is to ask "why should I".

(28-04-2014 02:41 PM)John Wrote: And btw, is there anything defensible about scientology?!

Hey now! Scientology meets all the qualifications of a legitimate religion and deserves all the respect owed to more venerable religions such as Christianity. It has met all the same standards of evidence, demonstrated the same universal standards of commitment amongst its hierarchy to not exploit or abuse its membership, and its history of how it treats those who publicly question its dogma is actually superior to Christianity's record.

(28-04-2014 02:41 PM)John Wrote: And btw, is there anything defensible about scientology?!

Hey now! Scientology meets all the qualifications of a legitimate religion and deserves all the respect owed to more venerable religions such as Christianity. It has met all the same standards of evidence, demonstrated the same universal standards of commitment amongst its hierarchy to not exploit or abuse its membership, and its history of how it treats those who publicly question its dogma is actually superior to Christianity's record.

Best and worst of Ferdinand .....BestFerdinand: We don't really say 'theist' in Alabama. Here, you're either a Christian, or you're from Afghanistan and we fucking hate you.WorstFerdinand: Everyone from British is so, like, fucking retarded.

I have a small file of notes on scientology, all I am sure you all have seen here and there over time, but figured it was relevant...

The official Scientology organization is composed of a number of “levels”. One begins as a “preclear” & works their way up. One must purchase virtually every service crucial to advancement directly from the "church" & at staggering prices. "Auditing", for example, is purchased in 12½ hour blocks, costing anywhere from $200-$750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Basically, Scientology claims to possess exclusive knowledge of the path to religious redemption & then charges obscene amounts of money for every tiny incremental step towards this end. $380,000 is a conservative estimate for the total cost of moving all the way up the Scientology hierarchal ladder.

At level OT III (Operating Thetan Level 3), some very strange & fiercely guarded secrets are imparted upon worthy members who have paid enough money to advance to such a level (and no, this isn't a joke): The evil alien ruler Xenu killed millions of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by kidnapping them, bringing them to earth in golden DC-8 “space-planes”, stacking them around volcanoes & blowing them up by dropping “h-bombs” into the volcanoes. Scientologists believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") were captured, brainwashed & released; they then attached themselves to our ancestors (and according to Scientology’s belief in Thetan immortality, they also attached to us during “past lives”) & cause many of our mental & physical ills to this day. Auditing is said to “clear” us of these Body Thetans as well as the “mental implants” they supposedly impose on our minds.

fellow members here is some internal documents. If one goes to their official site, you of course get the politically correct, gentle version of their...."religion". One has to dig just a tad deeper to find the depth of their..."view". They work very hard to snuff out anything written against them and sling law suits like a fry cook slings potatoes at anyone who takes a stand in the media. Lot of info out there on them, feel free to do a little research, it is eye opening to say the least.

Then consider this famous quote from the good creator of this.."religion";

Response to a question from the audience during a meeting of the Eastern Science Fiction Association on (7 November 1948), as quoted in a 1994 affidavit by Sam Moskowitz.

"You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion".

He said it, he did it, and they fell for it.

So is it really the gentle, thoughtful enlightening thing they say publicly and on their propaganda site?...or a dark devious, financially driven mind crush? I would hope we are too smart to take it at face value...

Then my small collection of scientology quotes....

Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way to do it would be start his own religion.
-- As quoted in the Los Angeles Times (27 August 1978)

THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CONTROL PEOPLE IS TO LIE TO THEM. You can write that down in your book in great big letters. The only way you can control anybody is to lie to them.
-- Lecture: "Off the Time Track" (June 1952) as quoted in Journal of Scientology issue 18-G, reprinted in Technical Volumes of Dianetics & Scientology Vol. 1, p. 418

You can get a much better fee — I tell you as auditors quite frankly — it's much easier to get a great deal of money out of somebody who's on a down spiral into becoming MEST than it is to get money out of somebody who is going on an up spiral toward becoming theta.
-- "Philadelphia Doctorate Course" #15 (1952)

Scientology is the only specific (cure) for radiation (atomic bomb) burns.
-- All About Radiation (1952) p. 109

You are only three or four hours from taking your glasses off for keeps.
-- "Eyesight and glasses" in Dianetic Auditor's Bulletin Vol. 2, No. 7, (January 1952)

Twenty-five hours of Scientology by an auditor who fairly understands how to process arthritis can be said to produce an invariable alleviation of the condition. Some cases, even severe ones, have responded in as little as two hours of processing, according to reports from auditors in the field.
-- Journal of Scientology Issue 1-G, (1952)

Leukemia is evidently psychosomatic in origin and at least eight cases of leukemia had been treated successfully by Dianetics after medicine had traditionally given up. The source of leukemia has been reported to be an engram containing the phrase 'It turns my blood to water.'
-- Journal of Scientology Issue 15-G (1953)

Not smoking enough will cause lung cancer! If anybody is getting a cancerous activity in the lung, the probabilities are that it's radiation dosage coupled with the fact that he smokes. And what it does is start to run out the radiation dosage, don't you see.
-- Saint Hill Special Briefing Course 35 (19 July 1961)

Advanced Courses are the most valuable service on the planet. Life insurance, houses, cars, stocks, bonds, college savings, all are transitory and impermanent ... There is nothing to compare with Advanced Courses. They are infinitely valuable and transcend time itself.
-- On his Operating Thetan Courses, in Flag Mission Order 375 (1970)

Now, get this as a technical fact, not a hopeful idea. Every time we have investigated the background of a critic of Scientology, we have found crimes for which that person or group could be imprisoned under existing law. We do not find critics of Scientology who do not have criminal pasts.
-- "Critics of Scientology" (5 November 1967)

The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.
-- A Manual on the Dissemination of Material (1955)

If attacked on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any organization, always find or manufacture enough threat against them to cause them to sue for peace.
-- Dept. of Govt. Affairs policy letter (15 August 1960)

A truly Suppressive Person or group has no rights of any kind and actions taken against them are not punishable.
-- "Ethics, Suppressive Acts, Suppression of Scientology and Scientologists" policy letter (1 March 1965)

This is the correct procedure: Spot who is attacking us. Start investigating them promptly for felonies or worse using our own professionals, not outside agencies. Double curve our reply by saying we welcome an investigation of them. Start feeding lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence on the attackers to the press. Don't ever tamely submit to an investigation of us. Make it rough, rough on attackers all the way.
-- "Attacks on Scientology" policy letter (25 February 1966)

ENEMY: SP Order. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.
-- "Penalties for Lower Conditions" policy letter (18 October 1967)

The practice of declaring people FAIR GAME will cease. FAIR GAME may not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad public relations.
This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP.
-- "Cancellation of Fair Game" policy letter (21 October 1968)

A psychiatrist today has the power to (1) take a fancy to a woman (2) lead her to take wild treatment as a joke (3) drug and shock her to temporary insanity (4) incarnate [sic] her (5) use her sexually (6) sterilize her to prevent conception (7) kill her by a brain operation to prevent disclosure. And all with no fear of reprisal. Yet it is rape and murder… We want at least one bad mark on every psychiatrist in England, a murder, an assault, or a rape or more than one… This is Project Psychiatry. We will remove them.
-- Confidential memo "Project Psychiatry" (22 February 1966)

Show this info to your sister...see if she changes her mind...

"Belief is so often the death of reason" - Qyburn, Game of Thrones

"The Christian community continues to exist because the conclusions of the critical study of the Bible are largely withheld from them." -Hans Conzelmann (1915-1989)